PISCATAWAY – After being served an ego check last season, the youth of the Rutgers football team is about to be asked to deliver.

One year after graduation forced its starting lineup to undergo a facelift, Rutgers enters the preseason with more returning starters (15) than six of its eight Big Ten opponents, according to Lindy's Sports. Consider it the upside to some of the inexperienced mistakes that proved costly in losing six of the final eight games.

"There is a huge difference (in) a freshman football player who plays when he is a sophomore. The same thing with a sophomore who goes on to be a junior," Rutgers coach Kyle Flood said. "When people ask me why I am so excited to get the opportunity to compete in this league, it's because those 18 first- and second-year players are now a year older and they've had a chance to build on their experiences."

With that in mind, here is a look at the 10 players most important to Rutgers' success this season based on potential impact, positional depth and projected strengths and weaknesses of Rutgers and its competition. Notice only three of the 10 are seniors and eight were first-year starters in 2013.

10. SS Lorenzo Waters: While Rutgers sorts out the rest of its secondary after surrendering a school-record 4,058 passing yards, Waters is a three-year starter and the last link to an age of NFL talent throughout the unit. The balanced offenses of the Big Ten are more in line with the senior's strength of playing near the line of scrimmage.

9. HB Paul James: Even with missing 4 ½ games due to injuries, James was named First-Team All-American Athletic Conference. The redshirt junior walk-on blossomed into an every-down back with big-play ability (four runs of 50-plus yards) and the toughness to gain short yardage or pass block. The only reason he isn't ranked higher is Rutgers' depth in the backfield.

8. MLB Kevin Snyder: Though he recorded 93 tackles, Snyder's first year as a starter after two as a part-time contributor didn't go as expected partly because the physical run-stopper often wound up in slot pass coverage. Snyder is built in the mold of the prototypical Big Ten middle linebacker (6-foot-3, 235 pounds) and possesses the smarts to set assignments.

7. TE Tyler Kroft: Former offensive coordinator Ron Price promised to emphasize the tight end in his play-calling and Kroft rewarded the commitment with a team-high 43 catches in his first year as a starter. The 6-foot-6, 240-pound redshirt junior proved to be a better-than-expected blocker and was named a Preseason First-Team All-American by USA Today.

6. CB Nadir Barnwell: The highly-touted Piscataway native was thrown into the fire quicker than any of the many true freshmen called upon by last season and experienced arguably the most growing pains. Rutgers desperately needs a No. 1 cornerback to emerge after a year in which seven players started at the position but none made more than six starts.

5. OLB Steve Longa: Comparisons to former two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year Khaseem Greene are bound to happen, especially now that Longa is playing Greene's old position. He led all freshmen in the nation with 123 tackles last season and could be just what Rutgers needs to reverse course on its substandard amount of takeaways (18).

4. LT Keith Lumpkin: The surprisingly athletic 6-foot-8, 315-pound redshirt junior will be charged will protecting the quarterback's blind side against the likes of feared pass-rushers Joey Bosa (Ohio State), Shilique Calhoun (Michigan State) and Randy Gregory (Nebraska). He might have been Rutgers' best offensive lineman last season, his first as a starter.

3. WR Leonte Carroo: He wasn't Rutgers' most consistent or most durable weapon, but Carroo was the best playmaker, especially with the game on the line. The junior from Edison has the hands and footwork to be one of the best wideouts in the Big Ten if he can adjust to life with unproven youngsters – not NFLer Brandon Coleman – working the opposite side of the field.

2. DT Darius Hamilton: The former five-star recruit practically lived in the defensive backfield over the final one-third of last season and begins the second half of his career looking to fully reach his potential. He is the test case for Rutgers' belief that smaller, quicker defensive lineman can use athleticism to combat offensive line brute size in the Big Ten.

1. QB Gary Nova: The starting quarterback almost always will be No. 1 on a list like this one, but the sentiment is amplified with Nova, who still hasn't been named the official starter over the inexperienced pair of Mike Bimonte and Chris Laviano. The senior's highs and lows the past two seasons directly coincided with the team's fast starts and poor finishes and his resolve will be tested after a late-season benching and a seemingly diminished role – at least for now – as a face of the program.